Random News: January 7, 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 7, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. Many things going on around the world — and I’m hideously busy today — so let’s jump right to the news.

• Oh damn, I guess we forgot to try and take the country by force yesterday. 
• After all, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do on January 6 if your candidate loses? Oh wait, no; that’s only for unAmerican piece of shit assholes. Who are gullible.
• And stupid.
• Yesterday, Congress peacefully certified Donnie Dump's 2024 election victory in a civil proceeding, four years to the day after Dump’s MAGA supporters rioted and attacked the Capitol building in a deadly insurrection.
• Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the counting of the electoral votes in the House chambers, leading the certification of the election she lost to Dump.
• Dump was certified the 2024 winner without a single objection. In a 40-minute ceremony, each state's votes were tallied, and lawmakers cheered for their delegations.
• But members of Congress also reflected on the four years since the failed coup attempt at the Capitol. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was less than 20 feet from rioters as he was ferried out of the Senate chamber that day.
• Schumer said, “We must never forget. Democracy is both sacred, its roots are deep, but at times it can be fragile.”
• Correct.
• I think the one positive note about January 6, 2021 — if you want to be an optimist about it — is that it was a lesson to a complacent populace about just how fragile democracy can be.
• Never before in our country’s history has a group of goons tried to subvert a democratically elected head of government. And now we know who they are and how to keep an eye on their dumb asses so they can be shut down before they try again.
• In any case, yesterday’s proceedings were how they are supposed to go… with calm civility leading to a peaceful transition of power, as every president has done in our history with the exception of one sad, fat baby man.
• While we’re on this topic, here’s some related news…
• Enrique Tarrio, the piece of shit former head of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy surrounding the January 6 insurrection, is asking Dump for a pardon.
• No surprise there.
• Tarrio, 42, was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest prison term for any of the Jan. 6 defendants. Tarrio played a central role in the efforts to storm the Capitol in the hopes of preventing Joe Biden from becoming President.
• I’d be shocked if Dump doesn’t release this dangerous criminal into society where he can do more damage to American citizens.
• Moving on.
• Dumpy and his former co-defendants in the Florida classified documents case launched an effort yesterday to block the release of a final report by special counsel Jack Smith that also addresses the election interference case.
• In a terrible miscarriage of justice, both cases against Dump have been dismissed.
• They’re asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block Smith, who prosecuted the case, from issuing his report. They cited the judge's previous ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
• They requested that Cannon hold a hearing and rule on their motion by Friday, saying they believe the release of the report is “imminent.”
• And Dump’s lawyers said they reviewed a two-volume draft copy of Smith’s report at the special counsel’s office in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
• Regardless of their bullshit, the special counsel’s office is required under Justice Department regulations to provide a confidential report to Garland, who can choose to make it public.
• I have zero faith that Garland will go public with Jack Smith’s report. Garland has seemed to have chosen the wrong path with each decision.
• Let’s move on.
• An earthquake killed at least 95 people and left 130 injured after it struck a remote area of southern Tibet early today.
• Emergency responders were still assessing the extent of the damage in Dingri county from the quake, which struck at 9:05am Beijing time. The U.S. Geologic Survey put the quake at 7.1 magnitude.]
• 7.1 is no joke. I recall with minute detail the 1994 6.7 Northridge quake that fucked us up here in Southern California.
• Let’s move on with some delicious news.
• National joke Rudy Giuliani was found in contempt of court yesterday for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment granted to two Georgia election workers.
• Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled after hearing Giuliani testify for a second day at a contempt hearing. Liman said Giuliani “willfully violated a clear and unambiguous order of this court” when he “blew past” a December 20 deadline to turn over evidence.
• The most recent asset that’s been obfuscated by Giuliani is a Palm Beach, FL condominium that he claims as his residence, but in actuality is a vacation home that he is legally bound to turn over.
• As punishment for the contempt finding, the judge said he will decide at the trial whether some of the missing evidence would show that Giuliani continued doing business in New York rather than Florida after January 1, 2024. That’s when the former mayor said he had established the Florida property as his permanent home.
• Giuliani conceded that he sometimes did not turn over everything requested in the case because he believed what was being sought was overly broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by lawyers for the plaintiffs.
• Fuck that shit. Try that next time someone sues you and see how well it goes for you.
• And fuck you, Rudy. It’s obvious that he’s stalling for time in the hope that somehow, Donnie Dump can intervene on his behalf after his inauguration.
• In other news…
• I’m going to miss the kindness of President Joe Biden.
• He and first lady Jill Biden attended a somber prayer service in New Orleans yesterday for families of victims and impacted community members following the New Year's Day attack in the city.
• Biden reflected on the 14 people killed and 35 injured in the horrific act of terrorism, as well as the first responders and law enforcement officers who, per Biden, “risked their lives to stop the terror." He also offered words of solace to the victims' families.
• The only way Dump would do that is if there was a paycheck for him, and then he’d make it about himself.
• Let’s keep moving on.
• Despite the fact that the ban on gay troops in the US military ended more than a decade ago, a surprisingly small fraction of the tens of thousands of vets affected have accessed benefits they are due.
• The Pentagon has now agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that may change that for about 35,000 veterans.
• Lilly Steffanides, a U.S. Navy veteran and plaintiff in the case, said that the stigma of being suddenly outed to their family in 1988, led to years of addiction and homelessness. Having an other-than honorable discharge meant no automatic access to VA benefits or health care.
• It’s a scarlet letter when employers ask about military service; many veterans would deny they ever served rather than reveal paperwork that showed they were kicked out for homosexual activity.
• I’m glad they’re being given what they merit and that this is finally being resolved.
• Moving on to some news about Meta, the company run by Mark Zuckerberg that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and more. You’re likely reading this on a Meta platform right this moment.
• Today, Meta announced it will eliminate its third-party fact-checking program to “restore free expression” and move to a “Community Notes” model, similar to the system that exists on Elon Musk’s platform Xitter.
• The company said Community Notes will be written and rated by contributing users to provide more context to posts across its platforms, and the feature will roll out in the U.S. over the next couple of months.
• This is a blatant effort to kiss up to Dump. Don’t be shocked if the MAGA militia starts adding their notes to my news.
• Zuck said it openly. “We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more.”
• Meta is removing restrictions on subjects like immigration and gender. They’re also moving its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California, a historically Democratic state, to Texas, a historically Republican state.
• Elections have consequences.
• And now, The Weather: “Hyde Park” by hemlock
• From the Real Weather Desk, apparently we’re bracing for “life-threatening” fire danger here in Southern California as extreme Santa Ana winds rock a region that has not seen significant rain since spring.
• The winds were set to arrive early today but will strengthen considerably in the afternoon through Wednesday. Widespread gusts of 50 to 80 mph are expected — with some areas getting destructive gusts between 80 and 100 mph, combined with bone-dry air.
• Sigh. C’mon man. I don’t. have time for that shit.
• From the Sports Desk… one somewhat interesting aspect of the NFL playoffs that start this weekend: out of seven teams, three of the Wild Card teams came from a single division. Yes, in both conferences.
• The AFC West produced the 1-seed Chiefs, the 5-seed Chargers, and 7-seed Broncos.
• The NFC North contributed the 1-seed Lions, 5-seed Vikings, and 7-seed Packers.
• And in both cases, the other (i.e., non-playoff) team in each of those divisions was highly underperforming this season…the Raiders (4-13) and the Bears (5-12).
• So the fact that those successful teams had a particularly shitty team in their division to beat up multiple times during the regular season might be — in some cases — the reason they’re in the playoffs at all.
• Today in history… The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army (49 BC). French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England (1558). Fire destroys Jamestown, VA (1608). Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa (1610). HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago (1835). The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by “SOS" (1904). The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen (1920). The first transatlantic commercial telephone service is established from New York City to London (1927). Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's ‘Un ballo in maschera’ (1955). U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation (1980). The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins (1999). Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others (2007). Chinese authorities confirm that they have identified a novel coronavirus, initially named 2019-nCoV by WHO (2020). The United States Congress certifies the results of 2020 United States presidential election, confirming the election of Joe Biden, on the morning of the 7th after the Capitol was attacked the day before during earlier attempts to certify the election by supporters of the incumbent president Donald Trump, who lost re-election to Biden and attempted to overturn the results of the election (2021). The longest U.S. House of Representatives speaker election since 1860 concludes and Kevin McCarthy is elected 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2023).
• January 7 is the birthday of politician Thomas of Woodstock — my 20th great-grandfather (1355). U.S. president Millard Fillmore (1800), businessman Thomas Henry Ismay (1837), film producer Adolph Zukor (1873), cartoonist Charles Addams (1912), flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922), publisher Jann Wenner (1946), singer-songwriter/guitarist Kenny Loggins (1948), painter/sculptor Robert Longo (1953), actor David Caruso (1956), journalist Katie Couric (1957), NFL player/coach Ron Rivera (1962), actor Nicolas Cage (1964), actor Jeremy Renner (1971), NHL player Donald Brashear (1972), singer/rapper Aloe Blacc (1979), and NFL player Lamar Jackson (1997).

If you’re a Second Life person, note that I have a live music show tonight at 5pm at Hotel Chelsea. Between now and then, I have roughly 17,000,000 things to do. Wish me luck. Enjoy your day.