Random News: February 26, 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 26, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. As has often been the case in recent days, we have a ton of news today, and a lot of it is pretty damn important. Get in the news car and let’s roll.

• First, let’s talk some more about the upcoming economic blackout that happens this Friday, February 28.
• The actual goal of the organizers is not political. It’s instead aimed at things like high housing costs, surging consumer prices, and greed-based inflation.
• However, the bigger-picture message is simply that it’s the people — and their money — who have the real power in the USA. Not a handful of billionaires, and certainly not Dumpy and his administration who are poised to remove the financial safety net from millions of Americans.
• So again, all I ask of you is to try for one day not to be a mindless consumer. Postpone any purchases you were going to make.
• Especially from national brands and massive retailers.
• And note that the blackout makes an exception for buying essentials of absolutely necessity — like medicine, food, or emergency supplies. But if required, try to make those purchases at small, local businesses.
• If you don’t flex your power in ways such as this, other protest actions, and especially voting, you are doomed to lose that power.
• So join us and don’t spend any money on Friday.
• Let’s move on.
• Last night, House Republicans passed Dumpy’s “big, beautiful bill” that include $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, and $2 trillion in spending cuts to take away services from the rest of us.
• Dumpy himself called the Republicans who were hesitant to screw over their constituents, forcing them to get onboard.
• In the end, the vote was 217-215, with a single Republican and all Democrats opposed.
• What happens next? If you paid attention in middle school, you already know.
• Before anything can become law, there will be weeks of committee hearings to draft the details and send the House version to the Senate, where Republicans have already passed their own scaled-back version.
• So again, not to seem insensitive, but this is precisely what we told you would happen.
• The wealthy will pay less, and the rest of you are fucked.
• And yes, a number of Republican lawmakers worry that scope of the cuts being eyed — particularly some $880 billion for health care spending that includes Medicaid, or $230 billion to the agriculture committee that funds food stamps — will be too harmful to their constituents back home.
• But they voted for it anyway.
• Let’s move on to four successful efforts in a day to stop the rise of Dumpy fascism.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the Dump administration to comply with a temporary order preventing it from pausing foreign assistance funding issued earlier this month, and gave the State Department until tonight to pay all bills for work completed before February 13.
• Ali granted a motion to enforce his temporary restraining order. It required the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, to restore foreign-assistance funds for contracts and other awards while proceedings continue in a case brought by a group of businesses, nonprofits, and organizations that do foreign aid work.
• The contractors had argued that they have been cut off from federal dollars or forced to stop their work because of Drump's executive action — and a subsequent directive from Secretary of State Marco Rubio — that froze foreign development aid for 90 days.
• Under Ali's ruling, the State Department and USAID must pay any invoices and drawdown requests owed before February 13 by midnight tonight. Ali also ordered the government to turn over any internal directives from the State Department or USAID leadership telling employees to comply with the court's restraining order.
• At the emergency hearing yesterday, a clueless Justice Department lawyer was unable to provide any information at all on what steps the Dump administration was taking to restore funding for foreign aid programs.
• That’s because there are none, obviously.
• But wait… there’s more judicial resistance happening.
• Yesterday, Judge Loren AliKhan from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of a group of nonprofit organizations in finding that they are likely to succeed in their challenge to the pause on all federal grants, loans, and other federal assistance programs.
• That’s another block against the Office of Management and Budget from freezing federal assistance, and another blow to Dumpy's ongoing efforts to destroy our country.
• AliKhan found that the nonprofits proved that the "funding freeze would be economically catastrophic — and in some circumstances, fatal — to their members" and agreed to grant their request for a preliminary injunction while the case plays out.
• She’d previously issued a temporary restraining order that prevented Dumpy from freezing federal assistance while she considered the nonprofits' request for injunctive relief. The judge held a hearing on their motion last week.
• We’re not done yet.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead in Seattle temporarily blocked Dumpy’s sweeping ban on refugee admissions, saying the presidential executive order represented an improper nullification of congressional authority.
• Whitehead’s granting of a preliminary injunction effectively requires the administration to restart the refugee-admissions program that Dump shut down last month.
• The judge’s order will remain in place while the case is adjudicated. Dumpy has the right to appeal his decision within 60 days.
• And one more.
• U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has blocked the Justice Department from transferring 12 transgender female inmates to male prisons in a setback for Dumpy’s executive orders denying recognition of transgender people.
• The inmates housed at Bureau of Prisons facilities filed their lawsuit January 30 because of concerns they would lose access to medical treatment if transferred to prisons that didn't recognize their gender identities.
• More urgently, the inmates argued they would be at substantial risk of serious harm if transferred, a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.
• I agree. What kind of fucking monster puts women in men’s prisons?
• Anyway, this is all good news in the fight against evil.
• Moving on.
• We mentioned many times that one of the expected casualties of a second Dumpy term would be the reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that allowed for same-sex marriage to be legal in all 50 states.
• On Monday, Michigan state Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
• It has been nearly 10 years since the high court handed down a 5-4 ruling on June 26, 2015, declaring the 14th Amendment requires all states to perform same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
• I would 100% assume that if the case is revisited by the current SCOTUS, the Court will declare same-sex marriages invalid.
• Taking away the rights of people is what these MAGA folks love the most. And if they have their way, the next step will be the reinstatement of sodomy laws that will make being LGBT+ a crime in and of itself.
• In other news…
• Dumpy has decided that US citizenship is for sale.
• That Orange Prick said yesterday the US would sell a “gold card” to wealthy foreigners, giving them the right to live and work in the US and offering a path to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million fee.
• “We’re going to be selling a gold card,” said that fucking maniac from the Oval Office. “You have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.”
• Asked whether he would consider selling the cards to Russian oligarchs, Dump responded: “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
• I’m sure he does.
• Let’s just move on to some less insane news.
• 21 staffers of the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency have resigned, saying in a letter sent yesterday to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles that they "will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE's actions."
• These officials wrote that they "will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services." 
• Thank God there are still people of conscience in the world. A salute to all of them.
• And speaking of DOGE, this is pretty hilarious.
• It’s run by Elon Musk, right?
• No. A White House official says Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency. 
• Who is she? Her LinkedIn lists her as a U.S. Digital Services senior adviser, and she has a background in consulting and the medical field. 
• And when reporters asked her about her big job as DOGE acting administrator, she said she was in Mexico and declined to comment further.
• I’ll repeat that last week, the White House said in a court filing that Elon Musk isn't an employee of DOGE, and "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”
• Hahahahahahaha
• Alrighty, let’s move into some more good news.
• Yesterday, Apple shareholders rejected a proposal to end their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program.
• The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, called on Apple to follow other major companies in backing off from DEI, which has come under fire by Republicans and Dumpy himself. 
• In their response to the anti-DEI proposal, Apple defended its diversity program as an integral part of its corporate culture, crediting the policies in part for making the technology giant the most valuable company in the world.
• Good. I’ve been an Apple customer going back to the ‘80s. I work on a Mac to do my. job every day, and use both an iPhone and iPad all the time as well.
• I’m writing this news to you on an Apple product right now.
• A frightening note from the Health Desk…
• An unknown illness first discovered in three children who ate a bat has rapidly killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks.
• And the interval between the onset of symptoms — which include fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding — and death has been 48 hours in most cases.
• So to be clear, you start feeling sick, and two days later you’re dead.
• They’ve determined what it’s not, which is Ebola, dengue, Marburg or yellow fever, but they have yet to find out what it is.
• The disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began on January 21, with 419 cases recorded and 53 deaths.
• Good thing we have a guy like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the helm of HHS. I’m sure he’ll take every step, from mandatory vaccination to social rules designed to protect us, right?
• Lordy. Also, don’t eat bats.
• Moving on. Here’s a fun fact.
• The following is a list of US states that pay more to the federal government than they receive back…
• California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Utah, and Washington.
• All the rest of the states — 38 of them — get more than they pay.
• Notice that nearly all of the states who actually fund the USA are so-called blue states.
• And I’d say it was in the whole country’s best interest to make sure that you respect the wishes of the people of those states. If not, well… there’s no guarantee that we keep footing the bill for the rest of you.
• Just saying.
• And now, The Weather: “RIP” by Triathalon
• From the Sports Desk… one of the most respected, highest-scoring professional basketball players in history has retired.
• Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, 42, made the announcement in an interview published yesterday.
• She leaves the WNBA as the most decorated player in the history of women's basketball. She  was the 2009 MVP; she was an All-Star 11 times; she led the Mercury to three WNBA titles, Team USA to six Olympic gold medals, and the UConn Huskies to three NCAA championships.
• She was also the fastest to reach 5,000 career points and the only to reach 10,000. She remains the league's all-time leading scorer.
• Well done, ma’am.
• Today in history… Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun (1616). Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba (1815). Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London (1909). President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park (1919). President Calvin Coolidge signs legislation establishing the 96,000 acres (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming (1929). Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration which leads directly to the development of radar (1935). U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day (1971). Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations (1980). The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff (1987). In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people (1993). Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, FL (2012). 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in Zamfara State, Nigeria (2021).
• February 26 is the birthday of playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564), author Victor Hugo (1802), fashion designer Levi Strauss (1829), soldier/hunter Buffalo Bill (1846), physician/businessman John Harvey Kellogg (1852), businessman Herbert Henry Dow (1866), animator Tex Avery (1908), actor Robert Alda (1914), actor Jackie Gleason (1916), actor Tony Randall (1920), singer-songwriter/pianist Fats Domino (1928), singer-songwriter/guitarist Johnny Cash (1932), singer-songwriter Mitch Ryder (1945), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Jonathan Cain (1950), singer-songwriter Michael Bolton (1953), politician Tim Kaine (1958), bass player Tim Commerford (1968), singer-songwriter Erykah Badu (1971), NFL player Marshall Faulk (1973), and NBA player Tim Thomas (1977).

The funny thing is that even with this much news, there are still plenty of things that I don’t have time to include here, or have left off for reasons of brevity. It’s a busy world in which we live, and if you don’t pay attention, you’re going to get screwed. Stay alert, stay woke, stay ready. Enjoy your day.