Random News: May 12, 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 May 12, 2025, and it’s a Monday. I am here to inform and entertain and occasionally terrify you. It’s all part of the job description.

• Let’s start with the big news of the day, which is Dumpy backing down from a huge portion of his tariff plan with China.
• It’s hilarious to me that a guy gets a job, and then right away he massively screws up, and then tries to undo the fuckery and expects some kind of applause for it.
• So, the story for the moment is that U.S. and Chinese officials said they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs — a trade war that Dumpy started on his so-called “Liberation Day” a couple months back — and call a 90-day truce in their trade war to allow for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.
• Economists quite accurately warned that tariffs still remained higher than before, and that the outcome of future talks was uncertain.
• But the was enough that stock markets rose sharply today as the globe’s two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global economy.
• Dumpy — who’d previously thought it was a good idea to put 145% tariffs on everything made in China — dropped that rate by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.
• So all of that talk of bringing manufacturing back to the USA — the gibberish that MAGA people bought into and were spouting — was all bullshit.
• Nothing will change in the global trade system. We can only hope that the break caused by Dump’s idiot and thankfully short-term tariff program doesn’t have many long-lasting effects.
• And, of course, that Psycho Don doesn’t change his mind again next week, or later this week, or after he eats lunch today. The guy is a buffoon with no concept of how to do his job.
• Moving on.
• As we discussed over the weekend, the battle over immigration came to a dramatic head Friday afternoon when Democratic lawmakers faced off with Homeland Security Department officers as they tried to visit an ICE facility in Newark, NJ.
• Important detail: Congress has oversight authority of all federal facilities, and are allowed and even required to inspect those facilities.
• Three members of Congress from New Jersey, along with protesters, faced off with Department of Homeland Security officers on Friday when visiting the detention facility. The incident started as officers attempted to arrest the mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, after he tried to join the lawmakers inside the facility.
• It was more than a little shouting match. DHS officers and lawmakers were physically pushing and shoving each other before Baraka was ultimately detained for several hours. He was released Friday evening.
• Again, under the annual appropriations act — which allocates funds for federal agencies — lawmakers are permitted to enter “any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.”
• The law is also clear that members of Congress are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” in their oversight capacity.
• And despite that, after the incident, a DHS official suggested charges could be brought against the members of Congress and accused them of breaking into the facility, despite their legal authority to conduct oversight of the department.
• DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement. “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities.”
• I’m pretty sure she has that law in reverse, and she might be the one facing charges for not admitting the members of Congress as legally required.
• We’ll continue to keep an eye on that — along with many other immigration legal stories. For now, moving on.
• Over to the International Desk, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is prepared to meet Vladimir Putin for talks in Turkey this week.
• Assuming it happens, this would be their first meeting since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
• European leaders were steadfast this weekend in demanding that Putin agree to the ceasefire before any direct talks take place. The Russian criminal piece of shit has ignored the ultimatum, instead proposing the direct talks in Turkey.
• Let’s hope that something works out to stop the endless stream of killing and misery in Ukraine caused by Russia’s invasion that began in 2022.
• In other news…
• If you’ve heard about Dump’s plan to curtail prescription drug prices and are perplexed, you’re definitely not alone.
• Dumpy is signing one of his executive orders this morning that promises to crack down on “unreasonable and discriminatory practices” by foreign countries that suppress drug prices abroad.
• Okay…?
• It will apply to a wide range of drugs and to prices in the commercial market, as well as Medicare and Medicaid and will likely spark fierce legal battles.
• The last time Dump tried something similar in his first term, it was quickly blocked by federal courts for procedural reasons before being rescinded by then-President Joe Biden in 2021. 
• At the time, Medicare was barred from negotiating drug prices, but that changed with the 2022 passage of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which gave Medicare the historic power to bargain over prices for a small number of drugs annually.
• In a social post this morning, Dump claimed without offering any evidence of a process that, “Drug prices will be lowered by 59%.”
• It would be a good time to note that Americans have long paid much higher prices for many medications than patients in other countries, in large part because other governments often determine the cost.
• US prices across all drugs — both brand name and generics — were almost three times as high as those in comparable countries in 2022. For brand drugs, the US prices were at least 3.22 times as high, even after adjusting for estimated rebates.
• So this does need to be addressed… by someone competent to do so, with an actual plan.
• Moving on to follow-up on the ongoing saga of Dumpy accepting a $400 million gift from Qatar in the form on a luxury jet.
• Even psychopath Laura Loomer can’t deal with this.
• She wrote, “I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits. This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. I’m so disappointed.”
• I guess that’s one way to look at it. The other way is that the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause prohibits individuals holding public office from accepting valuables from foreign officials.
• Most people in office are required to turn down gifts of things like food, concert tickets, and so on. Dump did not hesitate to accept this $400 million bribe from a wealthy Middle Eastern country.
• And Dump himself acted incredulous that he would be held under the same rules as other US officials after receiving much-deserved criticism over the weekend.
• Moving on.
• Opening statements have begun in the racketeering and sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, aka “Diddy,” “P-Diddy,” “Puff Daddy” and probably a few more that I can’t think of at the moment. The final stages of jury selection took place right before opening statements.
• Combs, 55, faces a ton of charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
• Four of Combs’ accusers will testify at the trial. The prosecution will be allowed to show the security video of Combs beating and kicking one of his accusers, the R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. 
• Under federal court rules, no photos or video of the trial will be allowed. Courtroom sketches are permitted.
• I don’t need to see that either.
• And now, The Weather: “First Day” by Far Caspian
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s 49 years ago in May 1976, getting somewhat close to the Bicentennial. I am near the end of my second grade school year at Ladera Linda Elementary in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. 
• And the music was pretty damn good. Here’s the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time.
• 1. Presence (Led Zeppelin). 2. At The Speed Of Sound (Wings). 3. Frampton Comes Alive (Peter Frampton). 4. Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (Eagles). 5. I Want You (Marvin Gaye). 6. Eargasm (Johnnie Taylor). 7. Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac). 8. Black And Blue (The Rolling Stones). 9. Song Of Joy (Captain & Tennille). 10. Robin Trower Live! (Robin Trower). 11. Brass Construction (Brass Construction). 12. Destroyer (KISS). 13. A Night At The Opera (Queen). 14. Come On Over (Olivia Newton-John). 15. Takin' It To The Streets (The Doobie Brothers). 16. Diana Ross II (Diana Ross). 17. Look Out For #1 (The Brothers Johnson). 18. Amigos (Santana). 19. City Life (The Blackbyrds). 20. The Dream Weaver (Gary Wright).
• From the Sports Desk… our daily playoff scores continue.
• In the NBA: the Thunder beat the Nuggets 92-87 in a close game, tying that series at 2-2. The Pacers just crushed the Cavs 129-109 (and were up by over 40 at the half), taking their series to a 3-1 Indiana lead.
• In the NHL: the Stars beat the Jets 5-2, going up 2-1 in the series. The Panthers blanked the Maple Leafs 2-0, knotting up that series at 2-2.
• Today in history… Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin (1510). London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel (1593). In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces (1780). The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism (1846). The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada (1870). President Roosevelt signs legislation creating the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (1933). The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey (1937). Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin (1941). The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507 (1942). The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon (1965). Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country (2006).
• May 12 is the birthday of poet Edward Lear (1812), nurse/social reformer Florence Nightingale (1820), pianist/composer Gabriel Fauré (1845), historian/politician Henry Cabot Lodge (1850), actress Katharine Hepburn (1907), businesswoman Mary Kay Ash (1918), MLB player Yogi Berra (1925), songwriter/producer Burt Bacharach (1928), MLB player Felipe Alou (1935), journalist/TV host Tom Snyder (1936), comedian/actor George Carlin (1937), singer-songwriter Ian Dury (1942), keyboardist Ian McLagan (1945), singer-songwriter Steve Winwood (1948), actor Gabriel Byrne (1950), singer-songwriter Billy Squier (1950), keyboardist Greg Phillinganes (1956), actor Ving Rhames (1959), actor Emilio Estevez (1962), guitarist/businessman Brett Gurewitz (1962), actor Stephen Baldwin (1966), skateboarder Tony Hawk (1968), actress Kim Fields (1969), NFL player Steve Smith Sr. (1979), UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (1980), and actor Rami Malek (1981).

There you go. Stuff to think about. I’m thinking about getting my ass downstairs to work out, because that’s what I do every weekday morning. Enjoy your day.