Random News: July 23, 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 July 23, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. I’m feeling pretty normal today. I’m not sure what normal means. I suppose that as far as I usual feel at 7am for the 2,919 Wednesdays I’ve experienced in my life, this one seem pretty typical. It’s all subjective, you know.

• It’s time to ramp up the conversation about president Dump’s involvement in the activities of Jeffrey Epstein.
• And the good news is that the Democrats finally seem to have grown a backbone, or perhaps some balls, and are will to keep pounding Dump on this, his least favorite topic.
• Of course, there are many other things to keep on the front burner, from Medicaid cuts to immigration cruelty to much more.
• But the focus on Epstein has also been remarkably successful, energizing the Democratic grassroots and aggravating tensions within the GOP.
• How important is it to the Republicans? Important enough to scrap their entire legislative plans and head early into the long summer recess — all to avoid votes on the Epstein saga. 
• Dump’s close attachment to Epstein, the late financier and convicted pedophile, has roiled his administration in recent weeks after the Department of Justice released a memo saying Epstein did not have a client list and that there was no evidence that he sought to blackmail global elites who might have committed sex crimes or other offenses.
• And then Dump’s team really fucked up by saying the case was closed and that it would not release any more documents surrounding the case. 
• And even the most stupid, Fox News-watching MAGA troll could see through the lies. Some of the loudest promoters of Epstein-related conspiracy theories have since been appointed to top positions in the Trump administration — including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino, Patel’s deputy director.
• A huge number of MAGA people were specifically excited by their high-level roles, because that would mean that the Epstein files they’d all been told they’d see after they voted for Dump would finally come to light.
• And then they had their hopes dashed by the same people they were counting on.
• So now, Democrats are publicly demanding votes on bills to force the Justice Department to release those files, which has in turn paralyzed House floor activity on the Republicans’ preferred legislative agenda. 
• And the Dems are backing a procedural maneuver designed to force a floor vote on the Epstein files in the fall, ensuring that the national debate on the sordid episode — and the headaches it’s created for Trump and the GOP — will endure for at least a few more months. 
• Yesterday, my Congressional rep, Ted Lieu (D-CA) stated, “This is a cover-up of epic proportions, where you’ve got the majority party literally having us leave Congress early, and not having the Rules Committee meet, because they don’t want to deal with releasing the Epstein files.” 
• He continued, “The story’s not going to go away because, at core, this is an issue about underage women who are sexually abused and assaulted. Attorney General Pam Bondi should not be protecting Epstein’s legacy, nor his clients, nor should congressional Republicans be doing the same.”
• Ouch!
• So now, Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to appease antsy Republicans over the Epstein files while also buying his Lord and Savior Donnie Dump time by shutting down the House early for August recess.
• But it’s only delaying the inevitable. In an Oversight subcommittee hearing yesterday, lawmakers voted to compel the full committee to subpoena Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
• And the bipartisan bill led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), which would compel the release of more files, will hit the floor as soon as lawmakers return in September.
• Meanwhile, Dump is doing anything he can to try and control the damage. He even called into CNN yesterday, which he immediately regretted after the anchor asked him about photos of Epstein at Dump’s wedding.
• He screamed that they were fake news before abruptly hanging up. The man is terrified.
• Anyway, moving on for now. But mark my words — this isn’t just going away.
• Dumpy had given. cushy job to one of his personal attorneys… but the state where he put her doesn’t want her.
• Yesterday, New Jersey’s federal judges declined to appoint Alina Habba to continue serving in that role, delivering a resounding rebuke to Dumpy.
• Their order — signed by Renée Marie Bumb, the chief federal judge for the District of New Jersey — instead appointed Desiree Leigh Grace — a career prosecutor whom Habba had named as her first assistant U.S. attorney — as her replacement in the role.
• But then Pam Bondi and her Department of Justice immediately fired Grace for no reason other than that she isn’t Habba.
• Honestly, this is the worst and most corrupt government the USA has ever had by so far, it boggles the mind. And like a rotting fish, the decay begins from the head.
• Let’s move on.
• A note from the Immigration Desk…
• An Afghan man who moved to the United States after working for the U.S. military in his home country was seized by armed, masked immigration agents, put in a van and taken out of state.
• Identified only as Zia by members of Congress and his attorney out of concern for his safety and that of his family, the man had worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan.
• Zia was in the United States legally and was arrested after an appointment in Connecticut related to his application for a green card under a program to protect people who worked for U.S. forces.
• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated, “What happened to him is the worst kind of abhorrent violation of basic decency. He actually worked and risked his life in Afghanistan to uphold the values and rights that are central to democracy.”
• Democrats have pledged to fight for his release. A judge has issued a temporary stay preventing Zia’s removal from the United States, but he remains in detention.
• To be clear: he and people like him saved thousands of American soldiers’ lives. Zia is a legal U.S. resident, here under the protected status that was granted to people already in the U.S. who cannot return to their home countries due to armed conflicts, natural disasters, or other extraordinary events.
• But Dump has terminated that status for some 14,600 Afghans. I also was told that Republicans supported the troops. I guess that was bullshit too.
• In more immigration news, a number of the men who’d been sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center — known as CECOT — are coming forward with nightmarish stories of torture and abuse.
• When the shackled men arrived, they were yanked by their feet, beaten, and shoved off the plane. Arriving at the massive gray complex. they were ordered to kneel there with their foreheads pressed against the ground as guards pointed guns directly at them.
• Donnie Dump has paid Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele $6 million to hold hundreds of migrants — many without ties to El Salvador, many without criminal charges — at the world’s largest prison.
• That’s your money, I should add. That’s your tax dollars.
• In the months they spent there, detainees said they were beaten repeatedly with wooden bats, robbed of thousands of dollars, denied access to lawyers or the ability to contact their families, and more.
• A 23-year-old detainee was regularly beaten, kicked, and insulted. Another man, age 22, had his teeth knocked out and was given no painkillers or medical attention.
• Is that what you wanted when you voted for Dump? Because that is now your responsibility, Dump voters. You did this, and you will bear responsibility for the results.
• Let’s move on.
• And now, The Weather: “Neon Bug” by Wombo
• A devastating RIP going out to John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne, singer-songwriter and the man who — along with his band Black Sabbath — nearly singlehandedly created the heavy metal music genre. He was 76.
• Just a few weeks ago on July 5, many of you watched his final show, billed as "Back to the Beginning” and featuring a list of the most iconic metal bands and headlined by the original lineup of Sabbath.
• The show at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK was watched by a crowd of over 40,000 spectators and had a livestream audience of 5.8 million. All proceeds from the event are being donated equally to The Cure Parkinson's Trust, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
• I can’t tell you how meaningful Ozzy’s music was for me in my youth. Was he a good role model? No, he was awful. He constantly had major substance abuse and behavioral issues.
• But the music is what did it for me. When I was in seventh grade, Ozzy launched his solo career with the album ‘Blizzard of Ozz,’ featuring songs like “I Don't Know,” "Crazy Train,” and "Mr. Crowley.”
• That album was quickly followed by ‘Diary of a Madman’ with songs like "Over the Mountain” and "Flying High Again.” I loved it all and became a fan for life.
• As often happens with music, it was only after I got into Ozzy as a solo artist that I went back and discovered the music of Black Sabbath… "Paranoid," "War Pigs," "Iron Man” and all the rest.
• I never saw his reality TV show, but I know a lot of you enjoyed that. I did have business dealings with his wife Sharon about 15 years ago. She got mad at me over a misunderstanding and tried to get me fired from a client. I know this is not shocking to anyone. Side note: I was not fired.
• Ozzy had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, but it’s unclear if his death was a direct result of that. Many people would have bet that given his history, there was no way he’d have lived as long as he did.
• Anyway, it goes without saying that he’ll be greatly missed by fans, fellow musicians, and the world at large. There will never again be anyone quite like him.
• From the Sports Desk… let's take a look at the top two MLB teams — and the bottom team — in each division by win percentage.
• AL East: Blue Jays (.584), Yankees (.554). Orioles (.444).
• AL Central: Tigers (.588), Guardians (.500). White Sox (.353).
• AL West: Astros (.584), Mariners (.535). Athletics (.408).
• NL East: Phillies (.574), Mets (.569). Nationals (.406).
• NL Central: Cubs (.594), Brewers (.594). Pirates (.402).
• NL West: Dodgers (.578), Padres (.545). Rockies (.248).
• Today in history… William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter (1829). Canada closes its doors to paupers and criminal immigrants (1900). The Ford Motor Company sells its first car (1903). The Chinese Communist Party is established (1921). Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film (1926). The United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (1940). Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite (1962). Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1962). In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city, ultimately killing 43 people, injuring 342 and burning about 1,400 buildings (1967). The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite (1972). Actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ (1982). Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later (1995). Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander (1999). NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by Kepler (2015). 
• July 23 is the birthday of philosopher Luís António Verney (1713), novelist Raymond Chandler (1888), Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1892), brothel owner Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (1901), activist Chandra Shekhar Azad (1906), MLB player Pee Wee Reese (1918), WWII servicewoman Jenny Pike (1922), astronomer Vera Rubin (1928), actor Bert Convy (1933), MLB player Don Drysdale (1936), actor/singer-songwriter Ronny Cox (1938), murderer Charles Harrelson (1938), radio host Don Imus (1940), singer David Essex (1947), singer-songwriter/guitarist Martin Gore (1961), actor Woody Harrelson (1961), guitarist/songwriter Slash (1965), actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967), NBA player Gary Payton (1968), politician Raphael Warnock (1969), singer-songwriter Alison Krauss (1971), MLB player Nomar Garciaparra (1973), activist Monica Lewinsky (1973), and actor Daniel Radcliffe (1989).

That’s all I’ve got for now. Time to get on with whatever I’m going to do today. Enjoy your day.