Random News: February 1, 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 February 1, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. I’m in a bathrobe, drinking coffee, and I finally have a day off work. I’m not even sure what that means. We’ll comment more on that later, but for now…

• Rabbit rabbit rabbit.
• It’s a new month. Maybe this one will be less weird than the last, he said, knowing it almost certainly wouldn’t.
• Yesterday afternoon, a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily blocked Dumpy’s attempt to halt a ridiculous amount of domestic federal spending. Chief Judge John McConnell Jr., who issued the order, is the second federal judge to do so.
• McConnell’s order is significant not only because it puts a second court order between the Dump White House and its proposed spending cuts, but because of who McConnell cites to justify his decision: Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Republican appointed to the Supreme Court by Ol’ Dumpster himself in his first term.
• That citation suggests Dump’s effort to take everything away from the people of the USA may be on its way to being declared unconstitutional before the Supreme Court, once this legal challenge reaches the justices.
• A recap: shortly after taking office on January 20, Dump issued a series of executive orders seeking to reduce or end spending on a variety of issues, from foreign aid, to diversity programs, to what Dump calls “gender ideology extremism.”
• And sure enough, this past Tuesday, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo purporting to implement these executive orders, which seemed to call for an absolutely sweeping pause on government funding.
• That memo said that federal agencies were required to pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders.”
• It lasted one day before being rescinded following a massive bipartisan political backlash. Though the memo is no longer in effect, the executive orders it sought to enforce still are.
• But here’s something that Dumpy is in the process of learning: the theory that the president can simply cut off federal spending that has been appropriated by Congress is known as “impoundment,” and has long been considered unconstitutional by judges and legal scholars across the political spectrum.
• And who did Judge McConnell quote in this new ruling? It’s a 2013 opinion by then-federal appellate Judge Kavanaugh — now a Supreme Court justice — which rejects the idea of impoundment and even cites a 1969 Department of Justice memo written by future Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
• It reads: “It is in our view extremely difficult to formulate a constitutional theory to justify a refusal by the President to comply with a congressional directive to spend.”
• Ironically, that was an opinion Kavanaugh directed toward then-president Barack Obama.
• Let’s move on.
• Dumples the Greedy Clown has fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra.
• Chopra was the guy who saw the removal of medical debt from credit reports and limits on overdrafts penalties, all based on the premise that the financial system could be fairer and more competitive in ways that helped consumers.
• Dump doesn’t want you to have any protection from the greed of corporations.
• Who hired Chopra in the first place? Oh, that has Dump during his first term. He’d picked Chopra as a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgages, car loans, and other consumer finance. Dump wants things back the way they were, when a lack of regulation allowed for unscrupulous loan practices that sent the USA into an economic spiral.
• Moving on.
• The Department of Defense under Pete Hegseth has immediately canceled all activities to help celebrate culture and race.
• The memo states, “Going forward, DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months, including National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.”
• Don’t be shocked or appalled. These people told you who they were and you voted for them. At least some of you.
• And I’m here to tell you, this will not be limited to the military/government sectors for long. So if you’re planning on celebrating Black History Month starting today, be aware that it may be for the last time.
• That’s what you got when you supported Donnie Dump, the white nationalist guy, for president.
• In other news…
• A follow-up story from the LA-area Palisades and Eaton fires, which, as of last night, are finally at 100% containment.
• A Culver City man has agreed to plead guilty in connection with an unauthorized drone's collision with a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft that was flying over the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County.
• Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. Akemann launched the drone from a Third Street Promenade parking structure in Santa Monica to survey damage from the fire, but lost sight of the drone.
• There was no evidence to indicate he intended to strike the firefighting aircraft.
• The January 9 collision left a 3-by-6-inch hole in the Super Scooper's left wing. The crew landed safely at Van Nuys Airport, but the plane was out service for repairs at a time when all firefighting resources available were needed to combat the fire in Pacific Palisades and five other fires burning that week.
• I’m betting that Akemann has a pretty large bill to pay, regardless of his intent.
• Moving on.
• Hey union members who supported Dumpy in the 2024 election… still feeling good about your decision?
• Yesterday, Dump signed a memo that claims to cancel late Biden-era union contracts. He’s seeking to unwind contracts that he claims were designed to hamstring his return-to-office mandate.
• The good news: like most things in Dumpyworld, it’s unlikely that the document will produce any results.
• Example: Biden’s Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley signed a contract last November with the American Federation of Government Employees locking in existing telework policies until 2029. And the Education Department similarly entered a new contract with AFGE effective January 17.
• Dump is trying to screw these union members by canceling the contracts, but it’s likely that he can’t. Typically, union contracts are not effective until the agency-head review process is complete and once executed, contracts cannot be superseded except by legislation.
• Moving on.
• I mentioned up top that I finally have a day off today.
• And that is great, but first, I’ll note that being immersed in high-stress situations — whatever they my be — doesn’t make it easy to go into relaxation mode by just flipping a switch. PTSD comes in many forms.
• Second, part of my ability to relax and enjoy life inolves jumping into the 50 or so household projects that I’ve been forced to ignore for the past six weeks or so.
• Anyway, I’m still grateful to have a day where I will purposefully not do any work for my job. I promise I can appreciate that part.
• And now, The Weather: “The Unknowing” by Jfarrari
• Speaking of the weather, tomorrow is Groundhog Day, perhaps the most insane of all American observances.
• And here’s an equally insane headline in that regard…
• “Scientists cast doubt on reliability of US groundhog’s weather forecasts”
• Really? That’s the headline? That the weather predictions of a fat fucking rodent aren’t trustworthy?
• Well, it’s true. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has concluded that only 35% of Punxsutawney Phil’s forecasts have proved to be accurate — placing him at a lowly 17th compared with other rodent forecasters.
• However, Staten Island Chuck, a New York-based groundhog, tops the rankings with an impressive 85% accuracy rate on his forecasts.
• And yet, there are no Bill Murray films with Chuck. Life is unfair.
• From the Sports Desk… tomorrow is the NFL’s Pro Bowl.
• We all know that it’s a silly, meaningless game. But it’s made worse by the fact that none of the players on the actual top teams each year take part… they’re getting ready to play in the Super Bowl the following week.
• The only thing that’s fun about Pro Bowl week is the skills competitions, which have been underway for a few days already.
• Today in history… The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer (1327). The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege (1662). France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (1793). Texas secedes from the United States and joins the Confederacy a week later (1861). President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865). Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, NJ (1893). “La bohème” premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio, conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini (1896). Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General (1946). Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC (1960). The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1964). Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile (1979). The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress (1996). Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard (2003). A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule (2021).
• February 1 is the birthday of violinist Francesco Maria Veracini (1690), opera singer Clara Butt (1872), film director John Ford (1894), actor Clark Gable (1901), writer/activist Langston Hughes (1902), politician Boris Yeltsin (1931), singer-songwriter Don Everly (1937), actor Garrett Morris (1937), actor Sherman Hemsley (1938), pianist Joe Sample (1939), actor/director/writer Terry Jones (1942), journalist Jessica Savitch (1947), singer-songwriter Rick James (1948), guitarist/songwriter Mike Campbell (1950), singer-songwriter Exene Cervenka (1956), actor Brandon Lee (1965), actress Sherilyn Fenn (1965), singer-songwriter/actress Lisa Marie Presley (1968), actor Pauly Shore (1968), actor Michael C. Hall (1971), martial artist/actress Ronda Rousey (1987), and singer-songwriter Harry Styles (1994).

Okay, that’s enough for now. Enjoy your day.