Random News: March 20, 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 March 20, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. The moon has gone down, the sun has come up, and long ago somebody left with the cup, but I’m here to go the distance on today’s news.

• Happy equinox.
• In the northern hemisphere, where — I shit you not — almost 90% of all humans on Earth reside, we call it the spring (or vernal) equinox.
• So happy spring to most of you… and happy fall to our friends in Australia, Brazil, and other southern places.
• Spring began at 2:01am PT/5:01am ET here in the USA.
• In the Pagan/Wiccan realm, the spring equinox is celebrated as Ostara, The holiday— which sounds suspiciously similar to Easter — includes the coloring and decorating of eggs, planting of seeds, and performing rituals that honor the balance of light and dark.
• Both events’ names are in reference to Ēostre, a Germanic goddess of spring. that’s why traditions of both Pagan and Christian holidays share certain elements.
• Okay, let’s do some news.
• In one of the first instances of GOP lawmakers pushing back on Dumples the Clown in his second term, the Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees issued a joint statement yesterday criticizing the idea of the U.S. drastically changing its military combatant command structure, saying they “will not accept” those changes without coordination with Congress and other agencies.
• That almost sounds like people with a backbone. I’m shocked.
• They were responding to a report on Tuesday that said the Pentagon is considering giving up its role as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, or SAUCER, as part of restructuring of commands and headquarters.
• House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) made the following statement…
• “U.S. combatant commands are the tip of the American warfighting spear. Therefore, we are very concerned about reports that claim [the Defense Department] is considering unilateral changes on major strategic issues, including significant reductions to U.S. forces stationed abroad, absent coordination with the White House and Congress.”
• They continued, “We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress. Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America’s adversaries.”
• Interesting. They are basically saying that Congress could use the power of the purse and other legislative tools to combat such a change, should Dumpy move forward with it.
• A bit of background: the U.S. has had a four-star general oversee NATO military operations in Europe for 75 years. The current SAUCER, Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, is also the head of U.S. European command and has overseen support to Ukraine.
• We’ll watch and see how that goes.
• Moving on.
• One of the biggest — frankly, the only — barriers stopping Donnie Dump and his gang from enacting a full-fledged fascist dictatorship as of yet has been the rulings of federal judges.
• And thankfully, for now, the Supreme Court seems to be in no hurry to address the ability of a single judge to block a nationwide policy.
• As we’ve reported here nearly every day since Dump took office again, federal judges responding to a flurry of lawsuits have stopped or slowed one Dump action after another, from efforts to restrict birthright citizenship to freezes on domestic and international spending.
• The latest plea to the SCOTUS comes in the form of an emergency appeal the Justice Department filed with the court last week, seeking to narrow orders issued by judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington that prohibit the nationwide enforcement of an executive order signed by Dumples the White Nationalist Clown to restrict birthright citizenship.
• The justices usually order the other side in an emergency appeal to respond in a few days or a week. But in this case, they have set a deadline of April 4, without offering any explanation for the delay.
• This question is not new to the SCOTUS. Presidential executive orders have been blocked by federal judges on both sides. In fact, these nationwide injunctions started increasing in frequency during the Obama administration and have only grown in number since.
• But it’s not a conservative/liberal or Republican/Democrat issue. It’s more about how we define our nation’s judicial system at the national level.
• Keep your eye on that.
• And in 100% related news…
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang found that Elon Musk and the White House's pseudo-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) violated the Constitution when they unilaterally acted to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
• Chuang ruled in favor of a group of more than two dozen unnamed current and former USAID employees and contractors who had challenged the efforts to shutter USAID, which were mounted by DOGE and Musk.
• The judge granted in part their request for a preliminary injunction and said in a 68-page decision that DOGE and Musk likely violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause and separation of powers.
• He ordered Musk and task force employees to reinstate access to email, payment, and other electronic systems to all current USAID employees and personal services contractors.
• The judge also prevented DOGE and Musk from taking any action relating to the shutdown of USAID, including placing employees on administrative leave, firing USAID workers, closing its buildings, bureaus or offices, and deleting the contents of its websites or collections.
• The Dump administration is likely to appeal the decision, but fuck them and Musk and his little DOGE too.
• Let’s move on.
• Today is the day that Donnie Dump, the guy that many of you voted to be our president, will sign an executive order to shut down of the U.S. Education Department.
• Dump feels that education is polluted by liberal ideology. Better not to give people an education than have them turn out as damn liberals, right?
• Can Dumpy do this on his own? He thinks he can, but he… cannot. Finalizing its dismantling is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979.
• In other news…
• It’s becoming obvious at this point that — taking a page from Joseph Stalin’s playbook — Dump is going after the academics of our country.
• This week, federal immigration authorities detained a Georgetown University fellow in the United States legally on a student visa, who promptly filed a lawsuit petitioning for his immediate release.
• Indian national Badar Khan Suri was detained outside his home in Arlington, VA by Department of Homeland Security agents. Suri was then brought to a holding facility in central Virginia before being taken to Louisiana, where he is now awaiting a date in immigration court.
• DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin posted on social media that Suri was spreading “Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.” She further alleged that Suri had connection to a senior adviser to Hamas. Ahmad said he is innocent.
• Suri’s detainment comes a week after Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University and green-card holder who also was held in Louisiana.
• Again, for those who don’t fucking get it: these people are LEGAL RESIDENTS of the USA, being targeted for their nationality and political outlook.
• And it won’t stop with brown people, if that’s what you were thinking. Real actual white people will be targeted soon for their resistance to Donnie the Dictator.
• People like me, and perhaps you.
• A follow-up on a story we mentioned last year.
• Yesterday, it took a federal jury just five hours to find Feeding Our Future leader Aimee Bock and her accomplice Salim Said guilty on all counts.
• A total of 70 people have been charged in the largest pandemic-related fraud in the country. 37 have pleaded guilty. The program was intended to provide food to children in need after school and during the summer. Instead, most funding was spent on luxury homes, cars, and other items.
• Bock was found guilty of seven crimes while Said was found guilty of 21 crimes, including wire fraud and federal programs bribery. Each of the counts of wire fraud carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
• Good. Fuck those people.
• Moving on.
• A note on how your politics affect your purchasing decisions.
• And yes, obviously, a great example is Tesla. It was a brand that was very popular among coastal liberals, with people feeling like they were doing something to lessen their carbon footprint and stop our reliance on fossil fuels.
• And then Elon Musk turned out to be a giant piece of shit who gets worse and worse every day. People who would have gladly been Tesla customers are looking to any other electric vehicle brand that better represents their values.
• But for today, I want to talk about Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream company that is renowned for its unapologetic progressive liberal views.
• Founded in 1978 in Burlington, VT, the company went from a single ice cream parlor to a multinational brand over the course of a few decades.
• You may not know this, but in 2000, the company was sold to the multinational conglomerate Unilever — but still operates as an independent subsidiary, at least in theory. 
• This week, Ben & Jerry's filed suit against Unilever, saying they unlawfully fired its CEO David Stever over disputes involving the brand's social mission and taking a stance on polarizing political issues. 
• In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, the ice cream brand known for its outspoken views on human rights and the environment said that UK-based Unilever's dismissal of Stever violated a merger agreement which prevents the unilateral removal of Ben & Jerry's CEO.
• Ben & Jerry's independent board and Unilever have consistently clashed over the brand's public stance on social matters.
• ”For over four decades, the company has pursued its unique Social MIssion via its public, progressive stances on issues such as migrant justice, LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives Matter, GMO labeling, and a variety of other economic and social causes affecting historically marginalized communities," the complaint states. "Unilever has repeatedly halted Ben & Jerry's social mission in direct contravention of the settlement agreement."
• So… what do you do in a case like that, where the company is committed to doing good things that align with your values, but their own parent company are complete assholes?
• Unilever is a huge company. Their revenue last year was over $65 billion. They own hundreds of brands, are the largest producer of soap in the world, and their products are available in over 190 countries. They’re giant assholes who will do anything for profit, like all massive conglomerates.
• But you can’t support Ben & Jerry’s without also supporting Unilever. It’s a conundrum.
• Let’s move on.
• Do you own an electric vehicle, perhaps like the aforementioned Tesla?
• Well, Republicans are now planning to scrap nearly all federal support for EVs, just when more Americans are considering buying one and car companies are planning big investments.
• Ending federal EV tax credits, weakening tailpipe pollution rules, and slashing funding for charging stations — as Dump and congressional Republicans have proposed — will drastically slow EV sales and trigger a wave of factory shutdowns and canceled investments.
• And, for those of us who give a shit about Earth are aware, It would also lead to higher planet-warming emissions.
• And now, The Weather: “Headless Hero” by Twin Shadow
• From the Sports Desk… you may not know this, but the NHL season is nearly identical to the NBA season in the time of year it’s played and the number of games in its regular season, which is 82.
• So that sport is also getting toward the end of the season and the playoff picture will grow more clear over the next few weeks. Let’s see which teams are in contention if the playoffs started now (listed by points which factor in wins, losses, and overtime losses).
• Eastern Conference: 1. Capitals (98). 2. Hurricanes (86). 3. Panthers (85). 4. Lightning (83). 5. Maple Leafs (83). 6. Devils (80). 7. Senators (77). 8. Canadiens (73).
• Western Conference: 1. Jets (98). 2. Stars (89). 3. Golden Knights (86). 4. Avalanche (85). 5. Oilers (84). 6. Kings (81). 7. Wild (81). 8. Canucks (75).
• Today in history… The Dutch East India Company is established (1602). The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings (1760). After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule (1815). Harriet Beecher Stowe's ‘Uncle Tom's Cabin’ is published (1852). The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, WI (1854). Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity (1916). The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled ‘Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso’, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States (1923). With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC (1948). The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland (1972). Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (1985). A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day (2015).
• March 20 is the birthday of poet Ovid (43 BC), Thai king Rama I (1737), poet/playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828), athlete/umpire Amanda Clement (1888), psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904), actor Ozzie Nelson (1906), singer-songwriter/guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915), singer-songwriter Vera Lynn (1917), actor/director Carl Reiner (1922), TV host/producer Fred Rogers (1928), actor Hal Linden (1931), singer-songwriter/producer Lee "Scratch" Perry (1936), singer-songwriter/guitarist/actor Jerry Reed (1937), Canada prime minister Brian Mulroney (1939), NBA player/coach Pat Riley (1945), actor John de Lancie (1948), NHL player Bobby Orr (1948), actor William Hurt (1950), drummer Carl Palmer (1950), actor/director Spike Lee (1957), actress Holly Hunter (1958), model Kathy Ireland (1963), NBA player Mookie Blaylock (1967), singer-songwriter Alex Kapranos (1972), and singer-songwriter Chester Bennington (1976).

I guess we’ll wrap up there, even though there are always tons of stories we don’t have time to cover here each day. My advice for you: stay alert and stay aware, and be prepared for those big changes that may be just over the horizon. You’re strong; I believe in you. Don’t take shit from anyone. Enjoy your day.