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 February 8, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. I am greatly enjoying my bathrobe, which is blue, and my coffee, which is Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend this morning. There’s a lot of very positive news, and I want to be sure that you’re aware that the effort to resist the end of democracy is ramping up in a big way.
- Yesterday, Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said that he will prevent the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, on administrative leave, siding with unions representing the employees.
- Nichols — who Dump named to the bench in 2019 — said in court that he would approve a limited temporary restraining order that would block the employees from being put on administrative leave.
- In agreeing to stop the 30-day deadline given USAID staffers to return home at government expense, Nichols cited statements from agency employees who had no home to go to in the U.S. after decades abroad, who faced pulling children with special needs out of school midyear, and had other difficulties.
- The judge also ordered USAID staffers already placed on leave by the Trump administration reinstated.
- He said the unions — American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees — established they would suffer "irreparable harm" without a pause, while the government did not. "Frankly, there is zero harm to the government" in a short-term pause, Nichols said from the bench.
- Good. I hope Dump is super mad.
- And in other news…
- Early this morning, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records that contain sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.
- Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued Dumples the Fascist Clown. The case, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges the Dump administration allowed Musk’s team access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system in violation of federal law.
- The payment system handles tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, and much more, and contains an expansive network of Americans’ personal and financial data.
- Engelmayer, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also said anyone prohibited from having access to the sensitive information since January 20 must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded from Treasury Department systems.
- So fuck you, Dumpy, but also fuck Elon and anyone who supports him in any way.
- Fuck him and his fucking money and his little companies.
- Speaking of that fucking piece of shit…
- Yesterday, Musk said he is re-hiring a staff member at the Department of Government Efficiency who resigned a day earlier after the news was revealed that he made a series of vile, openly racist posts.
- Musk said he would bring back Marko Elez after Vice President JD Vance called for him to be rehired. Dumpy later endorsed his vice president’s view.
- We reported on Elez this week after his posts came out that said things like, “I was racist before it was cool” and “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” among other disgusting statements.
- This is the kind of person admired by our current administration.
- Before joining DOGE, Elez had worked for SpaceX and at X. Elon is a big admirer of open racists like Elez.
- Moving on.
- If you or anyone close to you has cancer or any other serious medical condition, Dumpy just made it clear that he wants you or your loved ones dead as soon as possible.
- Yesterday Dump cut billions of dollars in biomedical research funding, alarming academic leaders who said it would imperil their universities and medical centers and drawing swift rebukes from Democrats who predicted dire consequences for scientific research.
- The move, announced last night by the National Institutes of Health, drastically cuts NIH’s funding for costs related to research. These are the essential administrative requirements, facilities, and other operations required by medical scientists to do their work.
- Scientists said the move threatens research already underway and noted that their universities have a fraction of the endowments of schools such as Harvard and Yale. Industry leaders also questioned whether the move was legal.
- We could have the greatest country in the world, and people like Dump want to ensure that the USA never lives up to its potential.
- We’ll move on with another very important topic for Dumpy.
- He is signing another executive order… to ban paper straws.
- “BACK TO PLASTIC!” he screamed in all caps.
- Joe Biden’s admin had aimed to phase out single-use plastic across the federal government — including straws — by ending its use in government food service operations, events and packaging by 2027 and all federal operations by 2035.
- It was not clear yesterday whether Dump’s upcoming order would target only plastic straws or if it would undo the broader commitment. A White House spokesman declined to comment.
- Ladies and gentlemen, with all the challenges faced by Americans, this is what’s important to our favorite fat felonious fascist fuck.
- Let’s move on.
- In celebrity news, yesterday Kanye West said that he’s a Nazi, that loves Hitler and that he fucked Ivanka Trump.
- So now you know that.
- And now, The Weather: “Killed For Sport” by Baby Nova
- Let’s do a chart. It’s the first week of February 1982, and I’m a freshman in high school. This is the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles at the time.
- 1. Centerfold (The J. Geils Band). 2. I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) (Daryl Hall and John Oates). 3. Waiting For A Girl Like You (Foreigner). 4. Harden My Heart (Quarterflash). 5. Turn Your Love Around (George Benson). 6. Leather And Lace (Stevie Nicks With Don Henley). 7. Physical (Olivia Newton-John). 8. The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known) (Juice Newton). 9. Shake It Up (The Cars). 10. Hooked On Classics (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra). 11. Cool Night (Paul Davis). 12. Sweet Dreams (Air Supply). 13. Waiting On A Friend (The Rolling Stones). 14. Leader Of The Band (Dan Fogelberg). 15. Open Arms (Journey). 16. Take It Easy On Me (Little River Band). 17. Let's Groove (Earth, Wind & Fire). 18. Come Go With Me (The Beach Boys). 19. You Could Have Been With Me (Sheena Easton). 20. Comin' In And Out Of Your Life (Barbra Streisand).
- From the Sports Desk… yes, tomorrow is the Super Bowl.
- I am a big football fan. Most of you know that. But I thought it would be nice to give you some basic facts about the game so maybe if you’re not as big a fan as I, you could have some useful info.
- This is Super Bowl LIX. No, not “licks.” That’s the Roman numeral for 59.
- Who’s playing? The champions of the National Football Conference (NFC) Philadelphia Eagles, and the champions of the American Football Conference (AFC) Kansas City Chiefs.
- The game is being played in New Orleans. Kickoff is at 3:30PM PT/6:30PM ET. It will be broadcast live on Fox and a bunch of streaming things.
- The Eagles will be appearing in their fifth Super Bowl. They last appeared in the Super Bowl two years ago, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35.
- The Chiefs will be playing in its seventh Super Bowl. They’ve won four Super Bowls and lost twice. They are the two-time defending champions right now.
- No team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls.
- In early November, Fox had sold out all ad time for Super Bowl LIX with a :30 ad at $7 million.
- The audience for last year’s Super Bowl was 123.7 million, setting a record. Over 200 million viewers watched all or part of Super Bowl LVIII across all networks.
- Kendrick Lamar will headline the halftime show. Lamar has won 22 Grammy Awards (including five this week). He will be joined on stage by SZA with other possible musical guests.
- In last year’s Super Bowl, the American Gaming Association estimated 68 million Americans had wagered over $23 billion on the game. Wagering on Super Bowl LIX is expected to be greater.
- Who will win? No one knows, literally. The wagering markets have the Chiefs as a favorite by only -1.5 points.
- Anything could happen.
- Like a big chunk of the world, I am rooting for the Eagles. The Chiefs have had their turn in the spotlight.
- Today in history… Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (1587). The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, America, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II (1693). Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate (1837). Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — they would finally do so on February 12, 1901 (1865). The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce (1910). United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House (1922). The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time (1971). After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth (1974). The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act (1996).
- February 8 is the birthday of mathematician/philosopher Proclus (412), poet/soldier Agrippa d’Aubigné (1552), physicist Daniel Bernoulli (1700), US general William Tecumseh Sherman (1820), author Jules Verne (1828), chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834), Edith Evans (1888), singer-songwriter Lonnie Johnson (1899), actress Lana Turner (1921), actor Jack Lemmon (1925), actor James Dean (1931), composer John Williams (1932), composer Joe Raposo (1937), journalist Ted Koppel (1940), actor Nick Nolte (1941), music producer Terry Melcher (1942), actor/musician Creed Bratton (1943), singer-songwriter Dan Seals (1948), actress Mary Steenburgen (1953), author John Grisham (1955), singer-songwriter Vince Neil (1961), actor Gary Coleman (1968), NBA player Alonzo Mourning (1970), actor Seth Green (1974), actress Cecily Strong (1984), singer-songwriter/musician Anderson .Paak (1986), NFL player Julio Jones (1989), NBA player Klay Thompson (1990), and NBA player Rui Hachimura (1998).
That seems like enough. Time to get out of this robe, into the shower, into some clothes, and then whatever else happens after that. Enjoy your day.
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