Random News: February 3, 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 3, 2025, and it’s a Monday. It definitely feels like a Monday as well. But at least I had two whole days in a row without work, which is a rare luxury for me, so let’s start the week with a positive attitude… even in the midst of this shitty time in the USA.

• Again, we’re compelled to lead with some bullshit from the Elnold Mump administration.
• Dump removed two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development after they refused to let representatives of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” access restricted spaces at the agency.
• The placement of the security officials — John Voorhees and his deputy — on administrative leave is the latest effort by Dumpy and Musk to wrest control of the world’s largest provider of food assistance, which they have denigrated without offering evidence..
• Yesterday, Muck repeatedly attacked USAID, calling the long-standing government agency “evil” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”
• The administration’s move to push out the top security officials at USAID out comes a day after Musk’s DOGE deputies gained access to a sensitive Treasury Department system responsible for trillions of dollars in U.S. government payments.
• Fucking pricks.
• And in related news…
• At least 50 employees at the Education Department have been put on leave in recent days after Dumpy the Buffoon ordered federal agencies to eliminate all positions related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• But almost none of them worked in jobs directly related to DEI. Instead, most all were involved in some sort of DEI initiative in the past, such as diversity training, an affinity group, or other programs inside the department aimed at creating a more inclusive workplace.
• The purging underway suggests that the agency is not just seeking to eliminate DEI but also to remove people who have expressed interest or participated in programs related to it.
• If you’re anything other than a white straight man in America right now, you’re in danger. It’s as simple as that.
• Let’s move on.
• Donnie Dump is an economic mastermind, right?
• Then why is he killing all of your 401(k) and IRA savings?
• U.S. stocks tumbled this morning after the Dump administration moved to impose sweeping tariffs on the nation’s three largest trading partners in an escalating trade war.
• Over the weekend, Dumpy imposed levies on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. The tariffs set to take effect early Tuesday elicited a swift response from Canada, which targeted hundreds of U.S. imports from oranges to motorcycles with tariffs of its own. Mexico is preparing to roll out countermeasures today.
• And the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell roughly 500 points, nearly 1.4 percent, at the opening bell while the broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq also dropped sharply.
• The early-morning stock market jitters reflect uncertainty about disruption of long-established trade relationships and what the new import duties might mean for inflation.
• So MAGAs, are you just going to stand back and stand by and accept high prices and loss of your savings? You’re responsible for this piece of shit being in office.
• Let’s move on.
• What the fuck is going on with our air travel?
• On Saturday, a plane struck an aircraft tug vehicle at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, sending the 64-year-old driver to the hospital with multiple injuries.
• Air Wisconsin Flight 6181 landed in Chicago from Kalamazoo, MI, and was on its way to the gate when it collided with a tug on the taxiway. Its driver sustained head and lower body injuries and was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition but was later stabilized.
• And then yesterday, passengers were evacuated via slides and stairs from a jetliner at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport after a wing caught fire during takeoff.
• A passenger’s video showed orange flames and smoke spewing from the wing as it sped down the runway. A passenger can be heard saying, “Please, please, get us out of here.”
• The incidents came days after a medical transport jet crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, leaving at least seven people dead, and less than a week since the deadly mid-air collision of an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., which killed all 67 people on board both aircraft in the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in two decades.
• Sigh.
• Okay, let’s talk about some efforts to fight back against this shitty world of Dumples the Racist Clown. Nothing will change unless we actively resist this shit.
• Protests erupted across the country over the weekend in response to Dump's immigration crackdown, which includes mass deportations and sweeping raids targeting illegal immigrants.
• The most intense protests have occurred in California and Texas along the border and near halls of government, with demonstrations of civil disobedience.
• Yesterday, a large crowd gathered in downtown Los Angeles in response to the recent increase in ICE raids and deportations. It grew to a few thousand people who marched to City Hall before walking onto the 101 Freeway. 
• Traffic delays were already reported in downtown, where some streets were closed for the Grammy Awards.
• In Texas, hundreds gathered at Dallas City Hall yesterday afternoon in two protests to rally against arrests and raids by ICE. Meanwhile, another protest took place in Conroe, TX on Saturday, with people holding signs supporting immigrants' rights and protesting the Dump administration's new immigration policies.
• Large protests have also been seen in Arkansas, Missouri, and Georgia.
• The Dump administration has vowed to conduct the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history targeting an estimated 11.7 million people who are in the country without legal status.
• Let’s move on.
• I didn’t watch the Grammys, but I hear they were good.
• Beyoncé, the most-nominated artist in the history of the telecast, finally walked away with the coveted album of the year trophy for “Cowboy Carter.”
• It capped a night that turned into a tribute to a suffering Los Angeles, with city firefighters chosen to reveal the winner of the last award and speeches offering words of encouragement for communities devastated.
• The Grammys almost veered into a telethon; $7 million was pledged from viewers of the show.
• That’s very cool.
• There were also some moments of political messaging.
• Lady Gaga gave a shout-out to the trans community, saying, “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love.”
• Alicia Keys backed diversity and inclusion programs. “This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices,” she said. “We’ve seen on this stage talented, hardworking people from different backgrounds with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift.”
• I agree.
• And Will Smith, hosting a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, got onstage without assaulting anyone, so… an improvement.
• And now, The Weather: “charlie” by terraplana
• From the Sports Desk… the NBA will soon be a bigger focus after next weekend’s Super Bowl.
• Here’s who’s leading each division at the moment.
• Atlantic: Celtics (35-15).
• Central: Cavaliers (40-9).
• Southeast: Heat (24-23).
• Northwest: Thunder (38-9).
• Pacific: Lakers (28-19).
• Southwest: Grizzlies (33-16).
• Today in history… Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona and Douce I, Countess of Provence marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states (1112). The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India (1509). The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas (1690). Spain–United States relations are first established (1783). The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress (1809). The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race (1870). The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax (1913). The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare (1917). As part of Operation Thunderclap in WWII, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000 (1945). Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community (1958). Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa, an event later known as The Day the Music Died (1959). The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post (1961). The Soviet Union's Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon (1966). Doctor John Buster and a research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the United States announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth (1984). Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida (1995). 
• February 3 is the birthday of soldier/politician Samuel Osgood (1747), pianist/composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809), physician/educator Elizabeth Blackwell (1821), engineer Hugo Junkers (1859), writer Gertrude Stein (1874), painter Norman Rockwell (1894), gangster Pretty Boy Floyd (1904), author James A. Michener (1907), physician Henry Heimlich (1920), filmmaker Kenneth Anger (1927), musician Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1935), film director Michael Cimino (1939), NFL player Fran Tarkenton, NFL player Bob Griese (1945), guitarist/songwriter Dave Davies (1947), actress Morgan Fairchild (1950), MLB player Fred Lynn (1952), guitarist/songwriter Lee Ranaldo (1956), actress Maura Tierney (1965), NBA player Vlade Divac (1968), soldier/lawyer/politician Beau Biden (1969), actor Warwick Davis (1970), businesswoman/criminal Elizabeth Holmes (1984), and MLB player Rougned Odor (1994).

Time to get into more Mondayish things. I have a list of them. Enjoy your day.