Random News: April 11, 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 April 11, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! It’s another day in the land of the strange and the home of the weird. I am, I should note, glad it’s Friday; it’s been a week that got annoying upon occasion. I’m definitely looking forward to a weekend.

• Let’s open with some good news… with a caveat.
• Yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered the Dump administration to facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three who was mistakenly deported to a brutal prison for terrorists in El Salvador.
• In yet another unsigned decision, the high court acknowledged that the deadline to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. had already passed.
• But the court said that district court's order "properly requires the government to 'facilitate'" Abrego Garcia's release from Salvadoran custody and to "ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
• The SCOTUS also directed the district court who ordered Abrago Garcia’s return to provide more clarification when the case is sent back for further proceedings.
• The ruling was passed 9-0 with no dissents. The three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, noted their respect for the court's disposition of the application.
• Now we wait and see for two things.
• First, will Dump possibly ignore the order of the nation’s highest court and go full dictator?
• Second, we find out whether or not Abrego Garcia is still even alive. Let’s all hope so.
• Another reminder: this man had been in the USA legally and was not accused of any crime, nor was any evidence presented about his involvement in any criminal activity.
• So now it’s up to Dumpy to get him back to his family ASAP, and — hopefully — to offer to pay him a proper amount for the pain and suffering he and his wife and kids have gone through as a result of Dump’s huge error.
• I’d ask for several million, if I was his attorney. That would be the starting point, minimum. And again, that’s assuming he’s alive.
• And a breaking update: Dump was ordered to submit the affidavit in the Abrego Garcia case by 9:30am ET this morning. They did not.
• Instead, he’s trying to delay until Tuesday, April 15 at 5:00pm.
• Doesn’t fill me with confidence that they have any intention of following the law and bringing Abrego Garcia back
• Let’s move on.
• After historic gains on Wednesday after Dump caved and delayed — or canceled, who knows? — his widely unpopular tariff plan, stocks have been topsy turvy ever since.
• The S&P 500 fell 5% yesterday, while the Dow dropped 1,746 points, and the Nasdaq composite sank 5.8%.
• I’m honestly sick of covering this bullshit.
• Guess I’ll note for the record that Dumpy's trade war for now is now clearly all about one country: China.
• Yesterday, the White House confirmed the total base tariff on China is actually 145%, an amount higher than the 125% previously reported and which Dump himself had seemed to acknowledge.
• The reality is that I don’t think any of them know what the fuck they are doing, and there is no plan.
• Oh, and by the way…
• Today, China punched back with tariffs of 125 percent on all U.S. goods.
• We’re all fucked.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, the House adopted Dumpy’s budget in a 216-214 vote, with two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana — joining all Democrats to vote against it. 
• Don’t applaud Massie and Spartz. They thought it should have been even worse. There were another dozens or so House conservatives who felt the same, but ultimately caved. 
• If they approving the budget plan in both chambers, they can start the reconciliation process, which allows Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation in the Senate.
• Then they can give Dumpy anything he wants with a simple majority. That means they don’t need any help from Democrats to enact their plans like stopping your Social Security and taking away your Medicare.
• Hey, plenty of you elderly folks voted for this, so you must like it, right?
• In related news…
• Yesterday, the House approved a bill that would require people to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, a move that will disfranchise millions of voters who are American citizens.
• The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) was approved on a 220-208 vote. It does nothing; there are few or no instances of noncitizens voting in US elections.
• And most importantly, voting by non-citizens is already against the law throughout the USA. It’s almost like this bill has a different purpose entirely.
• Instead, they’re using the SAVE Act to try and take away the ability to vote from millions of people, and especially to make it difficult for all women — Republican or Democrat or otherwise — to vote.
• If you’re an American who doesn’t have ready access to the proper documents, or are a married or divorced women who has changed your name, congrats. You don’t get to vote any more if this passes the Senate.
• Four utterly useless Democrats — Jared Golden (D-ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Ed Case (D-HI) — joined the Republicans in helping this effort to remove women from the voter rolls.
• What will happen when this bill gets to the Senate? No one knows for sure. But the good news is that they don’t have the 60 votes they would need to overcome a filibuster.
• Moving on, or rather back to the economic clusterfuck this week…
• After the insane stock market fluctuation that momentarily saw huge gains before big losses, Senate Democrats are asking for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into whether anyone benefited financially from advanced knowledge of Dump’s decision to back down on tariffs.
• Pretty sure they’re looking directly at Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
• Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) released a letter yesterday morning to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Jamieson Greer, the acting director of the ethics office, asking for “an urgent inquiry into whether President Trump, his family, or other members of the administration engaged in insider trading or other illegal financial transactions.”
• And of course, Democrats don’t have the power to force the investigation. But publicly raising this question is important, and I thank them for the effort.
• This is a topic that needs to be carefully scrutinized. 
• In other news…
• In an overnight action, the Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine in a 60-25 vote to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• The top military spot was filled almost two months after Dump fired his predecessor, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the second Black general to serve as chairman.
• Dump did so because Brown is Black. Dump wants to purge the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
• The Senate now takes a two-week vacation. Must be nice.
• Who is Caine? Well, to be fair, he’s a decorated F-16 combat pilot who served in leadership in multiple special operations commands.
• However, he does not meet prerequisites for the job set out in a 1986 law, such as being a combatant commander or service chief.
• Laws mean absolutely nothing to Dump, as we all know. Just wanted to point it out anyway.
• Moving on.
• The Social Security Administration entered the names and Social Security numbers of thousands of Latino immigrants into a database it uses to track dead people.
• This erases their ability to receive benefits or work legally in the United States.
• Many of these people entered the USA under the Biden administration’s temporary work programs that have since ended. All they were trying to do is work and pay taxes and be good Americans.
• Nope, now they’re listed as dead.
• In other immigration news, here in Los Angeles, Department of Homeland Security agents were denied entry into two elementary schools earlier this week.
• This happened on Monday at Lillian Elementary School and Russell Elementary School, both in low-income neighborhoods where immigrants reside.
• The agents identified themselves as representatives of a federal agency before administrators turned them away. 
• Yesterday morning, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said when the school principals asked for identification, the federal agents identified themselves as Homeland Security agents, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 
• He also said in both instances the agents asked the principals about specific students who ranged between first and sixth grades. 
• Why is DHS coming to steal our kids out of our schools?
• Why did you vote to make this happen? If you voted for Dump, this is obviously what you wanted to have happen.
• So I blame you.
• Let’s just move on.
• Once again, Newsmax has been legally declared as fucking assholes.
• Judge Eric M. Davis has found that Newsmax made false and defamatory claims about the role a voting technology company played in the 2020 presidential election.
• He found that Dominion Voting Systems presented clear and convincing evidence that shows Newsmax broadcast segments with inaccurate information that would likely cause reasonable viewers to think significantly less favorably about Dominion than if the viewers knew the truth.
• If the lawsuit heads to trial as scheduled later this month, the jury will be asked to decide whether to award damages and how much, and whether the broadcasts were aired with "actual malice," which means knowledge of falsity or disregard for the truth.
• Davis is the same judge who presided over a similar defamation lawsuit the voting tech company brought against Fox News. That case resulted in a $787.5 million settlement on the eve of trial.
• Pay up, bitches.
• And now, The Weather: “Care About” by Pillowprince
• From the Sports Desk… much like the NBA, the NHL regular season is just about over. let’s see who the likely playoff teams will be.
• Eastern Conference: 1. Capitals (109). 2. Maple Leafs (100). 3. Lightning (97). 4. Hurricanes (97). 5. Panthers (96). 6. Devils (89). Wild Card: 7. Senators (90). 8. Canadiens (87).
• Western Conference: 1. Jets (112). 2. Stars (106). 3. Golden Knights (105). 4. Avalanche (100). 5. Kings (99). 6. Oilers (95). Wild Card: 7. Wild (93). 8. Blues (93).
• Today in history… Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach's ‘St Matthew Passion’ BWV 244b at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony (1727). Former shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate (1868). The city of Tel Aviv is founded (1909). American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp (1945). President Truman relieves Douglas MacArthur of the command of American forces in Korea and Japan (1951). The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey (1951). United Kingdom agrees to Singaporean self-rule (1957). President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing (1968). Apollo 13 is launched (1970). The Apple I computer is created (1976). Over two hundred thousand people march in Caracas towards the presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chávez (2002). Twenty year old Daunte Wright is shot and killed in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota by officer Kimberly Potter, sparking protests in the city, when the officer allegedly mistakes her own gun for her taser (2021).
• April 11 is the birthday of emperor Septimius Severus (145), surgeon James Parkinson (1755), UK prime minister George Canning (1770), lawyer/judge Jane Bolin (1908), occultist Anton LaVey (1930), actor/dancer Joel Grey (1932), actress Louise Lasser (1939), director/screenwriter John Milius (1944), singer-songwriter Stuart Adamson (1958), TV host Jeremy Clarkson (1960), MLB player Bret Saberhagen (1964), singer-songwriter Lisa Stansfield (1966), MLB player Mark Teixeira (1980), and singer-songwriter Joss Stone (1987).

That’s way too much news. I can name another 3-4 big stories that I left out because they were just too stupid to mention. And because I don’t have all day to do this shit. Anyway, happy Friday. Try and do something you actually like at some point. Enjoy your day.